Wrench.



DELL c. DAvrsoN, or BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22', 191 fr.

Application filed October 14, 1916. Serial No. 125,660.l

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, DELL C. Davison, a citizenof the United Statesl residing at Bethlehem, in the county ofNorthampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification.'

This invention relates yto improvements in wrenches, and one of theprincipal lobjects of the invention is to produce a simple, cheap andconvenient wrench which may be used upon objects of varying sizes andwhich will automatically adjust'itself to grip the said objects. n

A further object of the invention is to produce a wrench that may beactuated by one hand of the operator, and which when turned in onedirection upon an object will grip the said object and when turned inanother direction will release the said vobject so that a substantiallyrigid movement will be afforded.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of theinvention is more fully understood, reference being had to theaccompanying drawingin which there is illustrated a simple butsatisfactory reduction of my improvement to practice, it beingunderstood, however, that the details of construction thereinillustrated are subject to such changes in form, construction, etc., asfall within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawing:

v Figure 1 isa side elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance withthe 'present invention;

.F ig. 2 is a transverse sectional view approximately on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, and parts being brokenaway.

As disclosed by the drawings, the wrench includes an outer jaw 1 havingan angular shank 2, the said shank being preferably rectangular in crosssection. The numeral 3 designates the inner jaw whichv co-acts with thejaw 1, the said jaw having an opening I therein through whichpassestheshank 2 of the jaw 1, and the said jawv 3' is provided with a hollowhandle 4 to receive the said shank 2 of the jaw 1. The outer end of thehandle 4 is closed, but a portion of the said handle, from the jaw 3 isopen upon one of its edges and if desired for a suitable distance uponboth of its sides in a line with the first mentioned opening. Theopening in the edge ofthe handle is designed to permit of access beingobtained toa series of transversely arranged teeth 5 provided upon oneof the edges of the shank 2 and the lopenings in the sides of the handleare desirable to permit of the snug engagement with the edges providedby the said openings, `of the sides or anges 6 provided upon a lever 7This. lever, between its sides 6, for a determined Vdistance is providedwith transverseteeth 8 that are adapted to co-act with the teeth 5 ofthe shank 2, and the lever 7 has'its inner end provided with a reducedrounded tongue 9 that is adapted to be received in an arcuate slot ordepression 10 upon the outer face of the jaw 3, whereby the lever isfulcrumed to the said jaw 3. j

The shank 2, from the outer end thereof, 1s centrally formed with alongitudinally eX- tending bore 11 .within which is secured a helicalspring 12 that has its outer end, or its end extending through the bore11 connected, as at 13,v to the inner transverse or end wall in the boreof the handle 4.

The outer end of the lever 7 is shaped to provide a handle or grip 14,and the numeral 15 designates a flat spring which has one of its endssecured, as a 16, to one of the edges of the handle 4, the opposite endof the said spring 15 being received between the flanges 6 of the lever7. and being provided with an elongated slot 17. The numerals 18designate headed members which have their shanks passingv through theslot 17 and which are secured to the handle or grip 14 of the lever 7.By'v this arrangement,

' it will be vnoted that'the lever 7 is normally swung upon itsfulcrumed member or tonguev member to bring the'teeth 8 thereofl out ofengagement with the teeth 5 of the shank 2, and the limit of theswinging of the said lever is limited by the spring 15, so that'thegripping end 14 of the said lever is at all times accesible tothe handof the operator which grasps the handle 4 of the wrench. The spring 12is of sufficient strength to at all times move the jaws lf-and 3 towardeach other, but is not of suflicient strength to prevent thel said` jawsbeing separated to receive the object to be operated upon therebetween.When the lever 7 yis swungtoward the shank2 to bring the teeth 8 thereofinto engagement with the. teeth 5 of the said shank, it will be apparentthat the jaws l and 3 will be held in locked re-v lation with eachother, but when pressure upon the said lever 7 is relieved the spring 15will swing the lever to bring the teeth 8 thereof out of engagement withthe teeth 5 of the shank 2, and when in such position, the jawsconnecting with the object operated upon will not engage with the said0bject with suiiicient friction to turn the same but will permit thewrench to turn uponl the object, so it will be apparent that th-e wrenchmay be permitted to ratchet in one direction upon the said f object, andfrom the .n above description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the simplicity of the device as well as the advantages thereofwill, it is thought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled iii the artto which such invention appertains without further Idetaileddescription.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is:

ln a wrench, an outer Jaw having an angular toothed shank, an inner Jawhaving a hollow handle receiving the shank and having an opening in thesides and in one of the edges thereof to disclose the teeth of theshank, spring means between the handle and shank for normally moving thejaws toward each other, a lever having side flanges and being providedwith teeth disposedJ between the flanges, a rounded tongue upon one ofthe ends of the lever, the inner jaw having an arcuate depressiondisposed to loosely receive the tongue of the lever, a flat springhaving one of its ends screwed to the handle and its other end providedwith a slot, a headed member passing through the slot and engaging withthe lever whereby to normally swing the lever to bring the teeth;thereof out of engagement with the teeth of the shank and to limit suchswinging.- movement of the lever.

In testimony whereofl aiiX my signature.

DELL C. DAVISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthey Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

